Monday, May 2, 2011

The SBA and sisyphean

Sisyphus, a king in Greek mythology was cursed to push a huge boulder to the top of a hill, only to watch it roll back down and to repeat this forever.
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TIP OF THE WEEK

The sisyphean struggle with commercial real estate presents opportunities for both buyers and lenders.

Moody's reported last week that the Moody’s/REAL All Property Type Aggregate Index declined 3.3% in February and 4.9 percent from a year earlier. According to Moody's, CRE prices are down 4.9% from a year ago and down about 44.7% from the peak in 2007. Prices are just above the post-bubble low last August - and about at the levels of 2002.
If you would like a copy of Moody’s April 2011 report, let me know.

Either a SBA 504 loan or 7(a) loan can be used for the purchase or refinance of owner-user commercial real estate.
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The debenture rate is 4.05% but note rate is 4.11% and effective yield is only 5.90%.
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AHEAD OF THE YIELD CURVE
Economic recovery plods along with a Sisyphean pace.

Our economy grew slower in the first quarter as government spending declined by the most since 1983. Gross domestic product rose at a 1.8 percent annual rate from January through March after a 3.1 percent pace in the last three months of 2010, the Commerce Department reported last week.

Has the rock rolled back down the hill with employment?

Keep your eye on Friday’s payroll report from the Department of Labor.

Here is a summary of net monthly payroll employment and this week’s interesting little table of data:

March 216,000
February 194,000
January 68,000

2010
December 121,000
November 93,000
October 210,000
September (41,000)
August (1,000)
July (66,000)
June (175,000)
May 431,000
April 218,000
March 230,000
February (36,000)
January (26,000)

2009
December (150,000)
November (11,000)
October (111,000)
September (215,000)
August (201,000)
July (304,000)
June (443,000)
May (322,000)
April (504,000)
March (699,000)
February (651,000)
January (655,000)

2008
December (681,000)
November (597,000)
October (423,000)
September (403,000)
August (127,000)
July (67,000)
June (100,000)
May (47,000)
April (67,000)
March (88,000)
February- (83,000)
January- (76,000)

What does all this mean?

I don’t know.

After meeting for two days, the Federal Reserve last week left its benchmark interest rate in a range of zero to 0.25 percent, where it’s been since December 2008, and retained a pledge in place since March 2009 to keep it “exceptionally low” for an “extended period.”

That’s because as they said “the unemployment rate remains elevated”

The likelihood policy makers will raise the target rate for the federal funds rate at their March 2012 meeting decreased to 44 percent, from 61 percent a month ago, Fed funds futures showed.
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OFF BASE

Sisyphus probably needed a hug every time the rock rolled back down the hill.

According to the Hugs for Health Foundation, everybody needs a hug. They believe hugging nurtures the human spirit and is healthy for both the hugger and hugged.

This week is the Hugs for Health Foundation’s National Hug Holiday Week.

Better than a hug is a prayer.

Thursday is the National Day of Prayer.

Needing both a hug and a prayer is probably pitcher Armando Galarraga of the Diamondbacks. Friday he pitched seven innings and gave up only six hits. Three of those hits were home runs however and the Diamondbacks lost 4 -2. Galarraga has now allowed 11 homers in 28 innings. At this rate, Armando has an excellent shot of breaking Jose Lima’s record for allowing 48 home runs in the National League in a season. This is also Jose’s first year of eligibility for entering into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He doesn’t have a prayer.